Monday, May 05, 2014

Ask Me Anything #39

As always, the first Monday of the month means it's time for "Ask Me Anything."

You can ask me any questions you'd like, whether it's about my work, opinions, influences, favorites, least favorites, or anything else you think I might have an answer for. Questions can be posted in the comments section below, and I'll either answer them there, or in a separate post sometime later in the month.

Please take the time to view the previous questions so that we don't wind up with a lot of repetition. I've been asked a lot of good, thought provoking questions in the past as well as some really banal ones, all of which I tried to answer. You can see the previous questions by visiting Ask Me Anything #1, #2 , #3, #4, #5, #6 , #7 , #8, #9, #10, #11, #12 , #13, #14, #15 , #16, #17 , #18 , #19, #20, #21, #22, #23, #24, #25, #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32, #33, #34, #35, #36, #37, and #38. Answers not found following the questions can be found in the archives section for each associated month under Ask Me Anything.

2 comments:

Hi, is me Willam again, and I want to say that I have found the information that I wanted, with MICHAEL DAVIS recent blogs at comicmix, and if I understand correctly, Static and the other Milestone characters still belongs to DC...Also I want to say thanks, for your older blogs at "johnrozumforkids", helped me quite, my writing skills has improved significantly(I also looked for other blogs as you recommended)...but here are my questions:1-I'm still having troble to start a comic book, I can not find someone to draw it. I've found a few people interested in my stories, but they all quit. So any tips where I can find people to work with me for free?(does not have many comic conventions around here, so this is not a option T.T)

2-(enough about my problens)What are your favorite endings of comic books and/or TV series? And why do liked them?(I'm asking this because the ending of Breaking Bad, made me think about it).

Hi William - I'm glad Michael Davis was able to help answer your Static/Milestone questions.

1. This is the tough part of what you're trying to do, and it doesn't change much once you move up the ladder. The way comics work these days, the model seems to be that writers and artists need to pair up and put together a nice package to present to potential publishers before any money enters the picture. Because this seems to be the future of comics, unless you're just going to do work for hire at Marvel or DC, even professionals are asking artists to team up with them and draw stuff for free, with the incentive that once money becomes a factor they are co-creators and co-own the property.

The downside is that while working on these beloved projects for free, we still have to pay our bills and work that pays takes precedence over work we may be passionate about that doesn't pay right now, so these collaborative processes can get drawn out over a much longer period of time than if the two people were working on something like Batman.

If you are going to get people to draw for you for free, make sure that you are giving them co-ownership and preferably the ability to contribute their own ideas to the project. It's the best way to keep them interested. As for finding artists, look around. There are plenty of talented artists looking to break into comics just like you are. Look on deviant art and other art sites and see what you like, and just ask.

2 - This question took a lot more thought, which is why I'm answering it at the very last minute this month. I think that because of their serial nature and the fact that they end because of factors outside of carefully conceived storytelling, tv and comics don't really allow for fully satisfying endings. Satisfying story arcs, sure, but endings that wrap up years of story handled by numerous writers, not so much. Generally these things come to an end because people stop reading, or watching them and they are cancelled, or, in the case of television, actors, or key creative staff decide they've had enough and want to move on.

I'd have to say that for a comic book series, what comes to mind is Y: The Last Man, because that series was really building towards a definite ending, and managed to wrap up everything that needed to be said and managed to say goodbye with dignity.

I don't watch a huge amount of television, but was happy with how Breaking Bad ended. It was an honest ending to everything that led up to it. While Walt was doing what he was for what might have been noble intentions, the fruit of his labors was exactly what they should have been.

I also really liked the end of The Sopranos. My favorite kind of ending is one that most people can't stand which is the open ending such as that of the classic short story "The Lady, or the Tiger" in which the outcome is really left up to the audience. That whole final scene is constructed with the implication that something really bad and final is about to happen, but we never see what it is, or even if it does happen.

The best ending for a tv series is the ending that they gave to St. Elsewhere, which completely turned everything that you've come to accept about the entire series and throws it out the window in the most satisfying way possible. It also happens to be the favorite tv series ending of Dwayne McDuffie and I encourage you to visit his website and check out what he has to say about it.

Sorry to be so vague about the endings themselves, but I don't want to drop any spoilers.

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About Me

John Rozum is best known for writing supernatural themed comics aimed at adults such as XOMBI, MIDNIGHT, MASS., THE X-FILES, and THE HANGMAN featured in THE WEB, or for writing supernatural themed comics for children such as SCOOBY-DOO or THE SECRET SATURDAYS in CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK.
He's written many other comics as well as magazine articles, television episodes and even trading cards. He also does occasional illustration work, and accepts commissions.